Abstract

DE KONING, Jacobus. Heinrich Bullinger's doctrine on covenant and election in response to the problematic nature of TULIP. STJ [online]. 2018, vol.4, n.2, pp.441-470. ISSN 2413-9467.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17570/stj.2018.v4n2.a21.

In this article, the question was raised whether a new appreciation and application of Heinrich Bullinger's doctrine of the covenant and of election could give rise to a more pastoral and non-rational way of thinking in relation to election/predestination as reflected in the five points of TULIP. Responses to TULIP within current evangelical theological circles were examined. Specifically Dave Hunt's book, 'What love is this' and the New Calvinism, were scrutinized in this regard, before it was indicated why Bullinger's view of the covenant and of election were chosen as the answer to the problem mentioned above. After investigating Bullinger's theology with regard to the covenant and election in contrast to later developments, it was shown how his view of the central place of the covenant in the history of revelation influences his doctrine of election to such an extent that his historical and Christological focus brings a more biblical version of election than that of TULIP to the evangelical discussion. Finally, some implications of his theology, especially for evangelical theology, are addressed.

Keywords : Heinrich Bullinger; TULIP; Evangelicalism; New Calvinism; covenant; election; predestination.

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